27 June 2012

The Reasons for my Criticism of the United States

This post dates from November 2010, but
I thought it would be a good time to repost it. There are many new readers to
the site and I want to make sure people understand that my criticisms of the
United States are not rooted in some kind of Leftist freedom bashing agenda. My
statements not only come from years of intense reading and study, but a
specific theology...one that informs both my citizenship in the Kingdom of
Heaven and the kingdoms of this world.

Here's the original post...

Since I've probably upset and irritated
more than a few as of late, I thought it a good time to answer the following
email......

Why are you so critical of the United
States?

As I've tried to explain in regard to
other topics, when something or someone proclaims to be Christian or to
represent Christ, the claim must be examined. And the standard is not the Common
Grace order, but the Special or Redemptive Grace order/Kingdom presented to us
in Scripture.

So, while I can say with complete
confidence that the Soviet Union was a truly evil and horrific experiment, I
place this in the fallen realm, the realm of Common Grace. It was
authoritarian, at times totalitarian and has an incredible amount of blood on
its hands. It outwardly and explicitly rejected Christ as Lord. Thus by
definition it was anti-Christian and I don't for one second want to make light
of the sufferings of the people who lived under its reign of terror.

The Church suffered but flourished
under this arrangement and today I am more than a little encouraged by the
testimony of the Church coming out of the former Soviet lands as well as the
Eastern Block. There is a small but vibrant remnant bringing to glory to God
and His Christ in those lands.

Looking at Old Testament Israel, what
was the greater threat, Babylon or the high places at Dan and Bethel? Assyria
or the Baal worship introduced by Jezebel?

The greatest threats to God's people,
and thus the MOST subversive and wicked are always spiritual in nature. The
Totalitarianism under the guise of Communism brought by Lenin and Stalin was
also a type of spiritual wickedness. But it was more akin to Rabshakeh the
Assyrian standing outside the walls of Jerusalem and threatening Hezekiah.
There was no hiding what it was.

But when Jeroboam introduced the high
places as Dan and Bethel to discourage the citizens of the northern kingdom
from visiting Jerusalem…that was a real wickedness that brought harsh
denunciations from the prophets. Baal worship sought to completely subvert
God's people. There are clues in the text which indicate the people had not
entirely abandoned Yahwist or Jehovah-worship. No, like the high places, they
were syncretizing. This has always been a greater threat, a great
evil….spiritually speaking.

While the devastations of the Assyrians
destroyed bodies, they could not destroy souls. The seductions of Jezebel and
the temptations of the calves at Bethel could.

That's why I'm making so much noise
about European history and at present, the United States. For Christians in
this country, the history of the United States is cast in a Christian narrative
and so these claims must be examined. What do we find? Rather than Jerusalem we
find a counterfeit, a sham, something more like Dan and Bethel, more like Baal
masquerading as Christ. Everyone argues over the historical events and whether
or not the founders were trying to form a Christian nation. Gone is the more
pertinent argument as to whether or not there is such a thing and would it be
right to attempt it. Another question I would pose....if it's wrong to try and
create a 'Christian' country, what's the theological fallout after it has
happened?

We need to think in spiritual terms.
Sure, other nations are evil and have killed millions. The United States has as
well, it just goes about this in a different way. The propaganda machine works differently
here. Rather than terrorize its own people, it prefers to keep them fat, happy,
and distracted. It's far more effective than the amateurish personality cults
brought by Stalin and Mao. There are always true believers, but most of the
people don't really believe it. They are skeptical of their government, and
many recognize it for what it is. That's how physical or temporal evil
operates…even fallen man can see it.

Spiritual evil is far more subtle and
thus far more dangerous. While compared to Maoist China or the Khmer Rouge the
United States looks 'good,' the reality is that Constantinianism has proved in
spiritual terms the most spiritually destructive force in all of post-New
Testament history. And often enough, it has also resulted in a lot of pain,
suffering, and death in physical terms. The United States has not proved to be
an exception. We can ignore the facts of history or try and explain them away
as many seem willing to do, but like it or not, the United States has a massive
amount of blood on its hands. Why does the rest of the world seem to see this
and yet so many here in the United States cannot? Is it because we're good and
everyone else is bad? That seems to be the Evangelical argument.

Could it be that Constantinianism
creates rampant self-deception?

So while I'm not trying to promote
hatred of America…I am trying to deliver a desperate plea, a wake up call to
Christians in America and for those abroad who harbour Constantinian
sympathies. I would argue from a Biblical standpoint, Constantinianism is a far
greater threat than Communism or any other historical movement. I think it is
the very imagery being presented to us in the Apocalypse, the Beast and Whore
in tandem. This is your Holy Roman Empire, your Byzantine ideal, and the dream
of virtually every Evangelical American-ist.